4
cg 4## An Unknown Woman Gives Dad Some Money
Aunt Yeonja's eyes swept over the woman. As usual, she was trying to figure out what kind of woman she was and what kind
of relationship she had with me.
It's useless, Aunt. She's a woman I don't know.
“Me?”
“Ah! You're the gentleman.”
This woman was suspicious.
She had been staring at me from the very beginning, and she clearly seemed to know me. Yet now she was pretending she
was seeing me for the first time.
What on earth was going on?
“I came to pay my respects to your father...”
The woman's gaze shifted toward Aunt Yeonja.
“...Should I come back later, sir?”
“Ah! No!”
I looked at Aunt Yeonja and said,
“You have a guest waiting. Either pay your respects to Father or have something to eat before you leave. Please decide
quickly, Aunt.”
“Hmm!”
Unable to contain her irritation, Aunt Yeonja gave a long, forced cough.
She wasn't the type to be intimidated by the sudden appearance of a mourner, but there was something formidable about
the atmosphere surrounding this woman.
Perhaps because she'd been overwhelmed by the woman's presence, Aunt Yeonja turned around to pay her respects.
Just then, the woman added,
“Sir. There are wreaths waiting outside. I think you'll need to arrange them.”
Aunt Yeonja turned around.
This woman was doing this on purpose.
“Ah, those? Just put them somewhere against our wall. We'll take care of them later.”
“That won't be possible.”
As expected, she was doing this deliberately.
Not only I and Aunt Yeonja, but everyone in the funeral room, as well as the mourners standing behind us, looked back
and forth between the two of us in confusion.
The woman continued,
“There are quite a few people who owe you a debt of gratitude, sir, so there are rather a lot of wreaths. They all
wanted to come personally to express their condolences, but knowing that you dislike fuss and commotion, they asked me
to come as their representative.”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
People who owed me a debt of gratitude?
Me?
The mourners began whispering among themselves.
Aunt Yeonja's face showed her displeasure, while Mother, Aunt Kyunghee, and Bongbong all looked at me as if asking, Who
is she?
I answered them with my expression.
I don't know either.
“There are several people outside right now, so someone will need to speak with the funeral hall staff or the occupants
of the other rooms and arrange some space. The delivery people are waiting.”
Were there really that many wreaths?
Enough to require rearranging the space?
I looked around for one of my younger relatives who could take care of it, but Uncle Yong stepped forward from among the
mourners.
“Gyojun! I'll take care of it, so don't worry about it and receive your guests. Yeonja noona! Brother-in-law! Hurry up
and pay your respects and come out. You can catch up with these brothers here after such a long time...”
“Forget it!”
Aunt Yeonja spat out the words irritably.
What could she do about it anyway?
Aunt Yeonja's family quietly paid their respects.
Aunt Yeonja gave a loud, displeased cough and brushed past the woman as she left the funeral room.
The woman then entered the funeral room.
Her movements were just as calm as her manner of speaking.
But no matter how closely I watched her as she offered incense and bowed, I still had no idea who she was.
Was it really true that someone had a debt of gratitude toward me?
I genuinely couldn't remember anything.
Bongbong gestured again, asking who she was.
I don't know!
I don't know!
I really don't know!
Could she perhaps have known Father?
I was dying of curiosity.
I was about to ask her after we exchanged bows, but the woman spoke first.
“I apologize for raising my voice in the funeral room earlier. It was unintentional, and I was rude.”
“If I'm not mistaken... it seemed quite intentional.”
“I apologize.”
I glanced toward Aunt Yeonja in the hall and said,
“No, thank you. Thanks to you, everything was settled. But... I'm sorry, but I genuinely don't remember where I've met
you.”
“That's natural. This is the first time you've seen me.”
“What? Earlier, you said you came as the representative of people who owed me a debt of gratitude...”
“I came on behalf of my client. My client owed you a great debt from a long time ago.”
Mother, Aunt Kyunghee, and Bongbong stared at me.
I raised my son well.
Our Joon really is such a good boy.
Our hyung actually does pretty well outside.
That was what their eyes seemed to say.
But I don't remember helping anyone!
I cautiously asked the woman,
“Who is your client?”
“I'm sorry, but I can't reveal my client's information. My client didn't wish for it either.”
This woman...
“Are you perhaps a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
As expected.
“I assume it's because of some lawyer-client confidentiality rule or something... but I still need to know who it is so
I can...”
“My client has passed away. That's why I came to pay my respects on their behalf.”
Passed away?
“Then what about the others? You said earlier that there were many people who owed me a debt of gratitude and that you
came as their representative. If that's the case, surely not all of those people have passed away. Couldn't you tell me
about at least one of them...”
“I exaggerated.”
“What?”
The woman briefly swept her gaze over the mourners in the hall before saying,
“I thought I should preserve your dignity.”
What the hell was this woman?
Mother and Aunt Kyunghee looked bewildered, while Bongbong let out a little laugh.
“Then the thing about having to arrange all those wreaths was a lie too?”
“The wreaths are real. A great many of them will be delivered, enough to make a show of it. My late client repeatedly
instructed me to make sure your dignity was preserved.”
“So that person knew I was unemployed?”
Well, so what?
I was unemployed, after all.
The lawyer didn't answer.
Instead, she pulled an envelope from inside her jacket and held it out to me.
“This is condolence money entrusted to me by my client.”
They even entrusted her with condolence money?
“I'm sorry, but before I can accept this, I need to know who this client of yours is so that I can...”
“Oh! Thank you!”
Bongbong swiftly snatched the envelope and moved several steps away from me.
You money-hungry bastard!
“Then.”
The woman gave a slight bow and turned around.
“Wait a moment. You're just leaving? At least tell me who that person was.”
“I apologize, sir. I ask for your understanding.”
The woman was polite, but her expression was firm.
She clearly had no intention of telling me.
But was I really going to let her leave like this?
First, I needed to buy some time.
“Please have a meal before you go.”
“I have to leave in a hurry, so I'll consider it as having eaten.”
There wasn't even a crack in her defenses.
She turned and walked toward the entrance.
They say the chief mourner shouldn't leave the funeral room, but I followed her without thinking.
As the relatives' eyes turned toward us, Aunt Yeonja raised her voice.
“The man who's going to become our son-in-law is a doctor. A doctor. I told you, didn't I? Dermatology. And our Jeongmin
became a team leader this time. You know Jeongmin's company is the biggest telecommunications company in Korea, right?
It's not easy to become a team leader at such a huge company.”
What's so impressive about becoming a team leader at our age anyway...
“I had a dream the other day, and strangely enough, it was a very good one. Maybe it was because something like this was
going to happen...”
“Hyung! Hyung! Look at this!”
Bongbong excitedly interrupted Aunt Yeonja.
I turned around, wondering what was going on, and saw him rushing toward me with a piece of paper in his hand and a
shocked expression.
“Ten million won! Ten million won!”
Aunt Yeonja's bragging was instantly buried.
Money really was the best.
Everyone's eyes immediately turned toward the paper Bongbong was holding out.
I snatched it from him and examined it.
It was real.
Ten million won.
A cashier's check.
“Excuse me!”
I shouted first, then turned around again.
But the woman had already disappeared.
“Excuse me! Counselor!”
Still clutching the check, I ran outside and shouted again.
The corridor was packed with mourners and wreaths.
But the woman was nowhere to be seen.
“Gyojun!”
Uncle Yong, who was arranging the wreaths, approached me.
“Gyojun, look at this. All these wreaths are for us. Yaa~ Our nephew, Jang Gyojun! He's not dead! He's not dead! Hahaha!
They're all from law firms and lawyers' offices!”
Just as Uncle said, the ribbons on the endless rows of wreaths lining the walls were covered with the names of various
law firms and legal offices.
Of course.
That woman was a lawyer.
“Uncle! Uncle! Where did the woman go?”
“What woman?”
“The woman who came to pay her respects. The one who told you to arrange these wreaths.”
“Ah! That woman? She just went up those central stairs over there...”
Before Uncle Yong could even finish speaking, I took off running.
“Hey! Gyojun! What's going on?”
I left Uncle Yong's voice behind and raced up the stairs.
Huff, huff!
By the time I reached the first-floor lobby, I was out of breath.
I was this winded after running up just one floor?
Fuck!
After the funeral was over, I needed to start exercising.
Huff, huff!
Breathing heavily, I looked around the lobby.
It was even more crowded than the basement.
I pushed my way through people and searched everywhere, but I couldn't see the woman.
I pushed through the crowd and ran outside.
I looked around in every direction, but she was nowhere to be found.
What the hell?
This woman?
Could someone really disappear that quickly?
Was that physically possible?
I bent over, placed my hands on my knees, and tried to catch my breath.
Hooah~
That woman was really fast.
I looked again at the check in my hand.
Ten million won.
The amount was unmistakable.
Not one million won, but ten million won as condolence money.
And the person who casually gave this much money as condolence money supposedly owed me a debt of gratitude?
If anything, I should be the one indebted to them.
Damn it!
Come to think of it, I got so caught up in the client that I forgot to ask the lawyer for even a business card!
What an idiot.
Just in case, I turned the check over.
There was nothing written on it.
I turned it back around.
The words cashier's check were clearly printed on it.
At least there was no chance of it bouncing.
I let out a deep breath and straightened up.
The rain had stopped sometime during all this, and the ground was soaked.
I put the check in my pocket and turned around.
Now that I'd given up on finding the woman, I finally noticed what was happening around me.
The entrance to the funeral hall was crowded with people.
There were people everywhere holding cameras and smartphones, and it was obvious at a glance that they were reporters or
YouTubers.
Among them, men wearing in-ear headsets were skillfully controlling the entrance.
It was because of A-Pulse's Lara.
They were all people who had gathered for her mother's funeral.
“It's Sim Sohee!”
Someone shouted, and the people lingering around the entrance turned to look behind me.
I turned around as well and saw a female actress who had made a name for herself through Ranflix walking toward us
dressed in black.
She was accompanied by someone who appeared to be her manager.
Before I could even finish expressing my surprise, reporters and YouTubers rushed past me and surrounded her.
Her manager struggled to lead Sim Sohee through the crowd, while reporters and YouTubers swarmed around them as they
passed right beside me.
What the hell?
I blankly watched Sim Sohee's back as she entered through the entrance with the help of the men wearing in-ear headsets.
Then I raised my head and looked up at the third floor.
That was the VIP funeral room.
The funeral hall staff hadn't even offered me the VIP room in the first place.
Just how expensive was it?
Did I look that poor?
I lowered my head and looked myself over.
.
.
.
Yeah.
I was poor.
That staff member sure knew how to judge people.
I raised my head toward the third floor again.
They said Lara was alone.
She had no brothers or sisters, no relatives whatsoever.
Completely alone.
It must be frightening when you feel like you're the only person left in this world, right?
She was practically still a child.
How scared must she be?
.
.
.
You idiot!
She has an enormous amount of money. What is there for her to be afraid of?
It's being poor that's scary.
Who are you to worry about whom?
I lowered my head.
Just in case, I looked around one more time for the female lawyer.
After confirming there was nothing unusual, I stepped toward the entrance.
That's when someone wearing mourning clothes came rushing out through the entrance, pushing through the crowd.
It was Bongbong.
“Hyung! Hyung! Did you see her?”
“No, I missed her. That lawyer is really fast.”
“No, not that woman. Did you see Sim Sohee? Sim Sohee! She just went inside, didn't she?”
Oh, for God's sake.
This idiot was starting again.
“She looks much better in person, right, Hyung? She was kind of so-so on screen, but wow~ she's totally different in
real life. From now on, I'm Sim Sohee.”
“Stop talking nonsense and give me a cigarette. Since we're already out here, let's have one before we go back in.”
“What if a guest comes?”
“We'll keep watch from here. If it's someone who came for us, we'll follow them inside.”
We moved to a nearby smoking area.
It was packed with smokers.
Naturally, there wasn't a seat left on the benches, so we stood side by side behind one of them.
Bongbong handed me a cigarette and lit it for me.
“I really need to quit these damn cigarettes now. Hoo~”
“Just smoke. It'll be a disaster if you suddenly start doing something you've never done before. You'll die.”
“Dying wouldn't be so bad. Living is hard too. If I die, you're the chief mourner.”
“What are you talking about? I'll die first. You'll be the chief mourner.”
Without either of us knowing who started first, we both blew out smoke and chuckled.
“Aunt Yeonja is pissed off again.”
“Why?”
“Because of the ten million won that woman gave us.”
“Why would that bother her?”
“How often do you see ten million won as condolence money? Besides, that woman was a lawyer, right? The uncles
downstairs are making a huge deal out of it, using it to brag about you. Eventually, they even started talking about
Father's heroic stories from his Counterintelligence Unit days, and the subject of the conversation changed completely.
That's why she's even more irritated.”
“How did the uncles know she was a lawyer?”
“What are you talking about? You shouted ‘Counselor!’ and ran after her yourself. And Uncle Yong made a huge fuss too.
He said an enormous number of wreaths had been sent to you from law firms and lawyers' offices, going on about how our
Gyojun wasn't dead yet and all that...”
Right.
Uncle Yong's fuss was almost as impressive as yours.
“Don't you think Aunt Yeonja deserves to eat some humble pie for once?”
He let out a little laugh.
I laughed along with him.
Smoke drifted from our noses and mouths.